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The Oakland 100: 12-24

Doughnuts to bagels, kimchee to cocktails, fried rice to so many fried chicken sandwiches—counting up a city's edible riches.

Lost & Found Beer Garden

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Minh Tsai, founder of Hodo Soy Beanery.

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Doughnut Dolly

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Douglas Leong aka "Uncle Dougie"

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Chris Pastena, Chef-Owner of Chop Bar.

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Editor's Note: This is one of many dispatches from Oakland that San Francisco is publishing over the next month, all part of our June "Oakland Issue." To see the rest of the issue's contents, and to read stories as they become available online, click here.

17. Tofu by the Ton
This year has been a tofu turning point, thanks to Hodo Soy Beanery. In February, Chipotle rolled out vegan sofritas filling made with the beanery’s organic, GMO-free tofu. But for founder Minh Tsai, “the most exciting channel for us is the local restaurants.” State Bird Provisions makes a killer yuba kimchee dish that requires 40 pounds of Hodo’s tofu skin a month. Even the French Laundry has dabbled in Hodo, as has Coi. Tsai recalls when his 13,000-square-foot factory, located on Adeline Street, produced only once a week. Today, its output has at least quadrupled. “Companies trying to make tofu a meat substitute have given tofu a bad reputation,” Tsai says. Almost 10 years in, it’s fair to say that Hodo has turned that tofu frown upside down. —S.D.

18-20. Fancified Doughnuts At Doughnut Dolly(482B 49th St.), a wee Temescal Alley shop, Hannah Hoffman impregnates hand-rolled, yeast-raised confections with a rotating selection of cream and jam fillings, but it’s the Naughty Mexican, a double header of Mexican chocolate and vanilla cream, that takes the prize. Over atDonut Savant (1934 Broadway), Laurel Davis fills her glazed pastries with everything from Irish whiskey ganache to marionberry jam. And thanks to Pepples Donut Farm (6037 San Pablo Ave.) in North Oakland, vegans have also been accounted for, with cakey delicacies in flavors as varied as lemon poppy seed, candy cap mushroom, and orange creamsicle. —R.F.M.

21. Key Player: The 1 a.m. Hoagie Guy Keep your Tamale Lady, San Francisco: Oakland has its own cult-hero purveyor of handheld drunk food, and his name is Uncle Dougie (né Douglas Leong)—a purple-haired sexagenarian who serves up authentic East Coast–style sandwiches outside the downtown dance bar the Layover (1517 Franklin St.) Wednesday through Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Leong’s spicy pork meatball sub (and his penchant for abandoning his post to get down on the dance floor himself) has earned him celebrity status among homesick New York City expats and drunk hipsters alike, but Leong’s just happy to see them happy: “I’m really enjoying myself,” he says with a heavy New York accent. “What can I say? People love a good sandwich.” —E.C.

22-23. So Many Taco Trucks, So Little Time Oakland’s taco-truck ecosystem is unknowably vast. You need direction. A good place to start isTacos Mi Rancho (1434 1st Ave.)—preferably after last call on a weekend night, when the line is long, the crowd is rowdy, and the al pastor is perfectly tender. Fish taco fanatics are better off at Mariscos Sinaloa (2138 International Blvd.), where the seared-tilapia tacos are easily the best in town. —S.D.

24. Empire Builder: Chris Pastena
Chef-Owner, Chop Bar, Lungomare, andTribune Tavern
Q: What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened atone of your restaurants?
“A guy ran into Chop Bar chased by the police, looking to escape. He ran into the employee bathroom, then locked himself in and passed out. But he didn’t disrupt business. No one was even fazed. Everyone just shrugged, “All right. Another day in Oakland.”